Woodside Priory School Strategic Plan

Woodside Priory School

Strategic Plan Always We Begin Again

Where We Are

NOW

At the Priory, we stand uniquely poised between the past and the future.

Our roots are planted deep in the 1,500 year-old tradition of Benedictine Catholic education, and yet we exist in Silicon Valley, the birthplace of innovation and a hub of lightning-fast change. At first glance, one might ask how we balance these seemingly contradictory forces. How do we prepare our students to thrive in an ever-evolving world while staying true to our core values?

At Priory, we understand it is exactly those timeless Benedictine values that

provide us with a road map, a clear way forward in changing times. No matter the challenge, we “listen with the ear of our hearts,” as St. Benedict advised centuries ago, and apply our five key tenets of spirituality, hospitality, integrity, individuality and community to move with confidence and balance into the future.

But before looking ahead, we pause to express gratitude, to appreciate how far

we’ve come. We honor our roots in the thousand-year-old Pannonhalma Abbey in Hungary, and our forty-year bond with St. Anselm’s College in New Hampshire, a vibrant Benedictine community to which we are still vitally connected. We cherish the continued presence of a handful of beloved monks on our campus, two Hungarian and one American. We are proud of our growing diversity and our global reach, the fact that our students hail from from fifteen countries and all around the Bay. And with our vibrant boarding program and a third of our faculty living on site, we celebrate the special way our campus feels like home.

At the same time, we lean forward into the years ahead. There’s a time-honored

phrase from the Benedictine tradition one hears repeated often on our campus: Always we begin again. What does it mean? It means we never stop reflecting, never become complacent, always keep asking how we can renew our practices and our school—within the life-giving stability of the Benedictine rule—to best meet the future, and to best serve the needs of our students and the world.

Mission

Celebrations

Woodside Priory School is a Catholic Benedictine, independent college preparatory school. Our mission is to assist students in creating meaningful and balanced lives, developing lifelong learners and stewards, and productively serving a world in need of their gifts.

Our long-term commitment to self-reflection and growth—to continually beginning again in the context of Benedictine stability—has over the years resulted in successes we now celebrate with gratitude and which inspire us to continue evolving with confidence.

We believe in these Benedictine values: Spirituality – God works in us, through us, and for us.

Hospitality – All are welcomed in honor and respect.

Integrity – Learning flourishes in an environment of honesty, trust and personal responsibility.

Individuality – Every student has gifts to be discovered, nurtured and treasured.

Community – Together we find strength and purpose in supporting one another.

We believe these values are made real in a community in which every student is known and loved.

Vision The Priory is a premier learning community responding to the opportunities and challenges of our times through the wisdom of our timeless Benedictine values.

We will provide rich opportunities for spiritual, intellectual and physical formation, inspiring each member of our community to lead a balanced and meaningful life, to live well with others, and to discover and share his or her unique passions and gifts.

We envision our campus and our community as a warm and welcoming village, a place that feels like home for all: local and international students, day students and boarders, parents, faculty, and staff.

Here are a few milestones from the last decade we’re proud to share: • Instituted the Benedictine Life and Spirituality Seminar, a summer program for our faculty, staff and Trustees held at Saint Anselm. Participants live the life of a monk for three days, bringing back to Priory a deeper appreciation of the Benedictine values.

• Significantly reduced student stress and honored Benedictine balance by implementing across-the-board changes: moving to a block schedule, eliminating bells, instituting no-homework weekends, and adding much-needed break time to each day.

• Honored the developmental and community needs of our middle-grade students by moving the Middle School to Church Square on our upper campus, with dedicated classrooms, and recreation and gathering spaces.

• Added a three-building, $10 million, state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center where our entire community can come together, and where students can nurture individual talents and passions in music and the arts.

• Welcomed seven more faculty families as campus residents and ensured the long-term retention of talented teachers in a challenging real estate market with the construction of Maas Commons.

• Fully renovated the Lorry Lokey library and Molak Student Center to provide more welcoming spaces for learning and community.

• Funded and built a beautiful new 10-classroom building adjacent to the chapel, renovated all existing classrooms, added state-of-the-art science labs, created a new faculty lounge and work area, and redesigned Benedictine Square, resulting in inspiring, spacious new campus gathering and learning areas for all community members.

• Strengthened our values of integrity, individuality and spirituality with the Senior Project, in which students identify a real-world need that aligns with a personal passion and present a concrete solution to the community.

• Deepened integrity and spirituality by implementing a weeklong service project for freshmen and sophomores.

• Added a Mission Commitment to the Board of Trustees, ensuring the full articulation of the Benedictine values throughout our community.

• Initiated plans for a 12,000 square-foot STREAM building combining science and the arts on the site of our existing Fine Arts building, to be completed in 2017-18.

• Increased significantly Financial Aid for boarding students in order to diversify the student population in the Boarding program.

THE PRIORY STRATEGIC PLAN

Spiritual Experience

Educational Engagement

Priority: To enhance and deepen the spiritual life of the school community. To foster spirituality characterized by the Benedictine values of integrity, individuality, hospitality and community, while celebrating a diversity of faiths.

Priority: To allow students to create meaningful lives through a balanced, collaborative, intellectually rigorous, innovative and globallyoriented educational experience grounded firmly in the Benedictine values.

We will: • Sustain and strengthen spirituality within the school by embracing and celebrating the presence of our monastic community on campus.

• Promote the mission of the school to all constituencies: parents, students, teachers, and staff.

We will: • Continue to cultivate a mission-driven, diverse, and developmentally appropriate college preparatory educational program that stands as an experience unto itself.

• Appreciate key differences between the middle and upper school experiences, and celebrate those differences with educational strategies thoughtfully tailored to each.

• Nurture students’ ownership of their own educational experience by inculcating a bold sense of self-advocacy, curiosity and a willingness to explore new interests and passions.

• Foster an innovative spirit in faculty and students grounded in creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and resilience.

• Build upon a vibrant STREAM program—science, technology, robotics, engineering, art and mathematics—to prepare students for a rapidly evolving future.

• Retain, attract, and cultivate outstanding teachers and coaches by providing competitive compensation as well as extensive professional development opportunities and support.

• Design the student experience using “backward planning,” so that all learning stems from a clearly identified essential question, aims for an enduring understanding, and ends with authentic assessment.

Student Life Priority: To foster a warm, inclusive, and reflective environment in which each student, both day and boarding, are encouraged to lead a life inspired by Benedictine values.

We will: • Create engaging experiences allowing students to take risks, develop their passions, and express their authentic voices.

• Foster an inclusive and equitable community where all students feel welcome, understood and respected.

• Teach and encourage students to be positive and contributing members of the Priory community and beyond.

• Instill in all students an understanding of global issues, an appreciation of the interconnectedness of cultures, and an awareness of their role as global citizens, in part by celebrating the richness of our boarding program.

• Provide students the time and space for reflection and self-discovery in order that they may develop balanced and meaningful lives.

Stewardship Priority: To foster effective, professional, adaptive leadership and decision-making based upon the Benedictine ideal of “listening with the ear of the heart.” To ensure that the Priory has the necessary financial resources to carry out its mission.

We will: • Ensure that our Mission Statement guides all aspects of school decision-making.

• Support an increasingly effective shared leadership structure and interaction between the Monastic Board of Directors and the Priory Board of Trustees.

• Recruit and retain an outstanding administrative team and Board of Trustees that promotes and supports a successful educational program.

• Effectively communicate the Priory’s Mission, unique vision, educational programs, activities and accomplishments to all constituents of Priory and the local and international community, leading to increased financial support of the school.

• Sustain and enhance mutually beneficial relationships among Priory parents, students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the school.

• Deepen alumni parent and alumni engagement through additional activities and events.

• Maintain and enhance a physical environment that supports and improves our programs while respecting the harmony of nature and preserving resources for future generations.

• Invest in additional on-campus residences as a way to attract and retain excellent teachers and enrich on-campus life.

• Prudently manage our budget, endowment and investments.

• Build upon strong annual giving and expand our endowment to provide adequate financial aid and support for all our students of need.

Woodside Priory School 302 Portola Road Portola Valley, CA 94028-7897 650.851-8221 www.PrioryCA.org